`Squatter` In Battle To Stay At Residence

HOLLYWOOD — All Ed Bagwell wants is to be left alone to live a rustic lifestyle and enjoy the vast array of flowers and trees that surround the home he`s stayed in for nearly four years.

But the home`s owner and city officials say that Bagwell has no legal right to live in the two-bedroom house at 2834 Rodman St.

The owner, Frank Lampert of Arlington, Va., said Bagwell is a squatter and he wants him evicted.

Meanwhile, the city filed suit Thursday to evict Bagwell so it can demolish the 40-year-old Spanish-style home that inspectors said is beyond repair.

``They`re making it a tough ballgame,`` Bagwell said. ``I try to leave people alone. I wish they`d extend me the same courtesy.``

Assistant City Attorney Saul Smolar said that`s impossible.

``We have an obligation to the community to do something when a house becomes a hazard,`` Smolar said. ``The condition of the property depreciates the property values in the neighborhood, his two dogs scare the neighbors and the vegetation is overgrown onto other people`s property.``

Lampert, who was given the home in 1974 by his parents, said, ``I never heard of him until the neighbors called me to complain. He`s a squatter. I`ve been trying to work with the city to get him out.``

Bagwell, however, said Lampert and the city are fabricating stories. Bagwell said he moved into the home in April 1982 with Lampert`s permission.

``The city has made it sound as bad as they can,`` Bagwell said. ``The house does need work, but I`m trying to restore it. I`m doing everything by hand, and that takes time.``

By his own admission, Bagwell, 43, and his roommate, 66-year-old Charlie Parks, live a rustic lifestyle. They have no electricity. They have no phone. They cook in a grill and use firewood for fuel.

Two large mixed-breed dogs roam the fenced-in yard and scare off unwelcome visitors such as building inspectors and demolition crews.

The house is surrounded by at least eight varieties of trees and numerous plants. Four older-model cars are parked on the site.

Neighbors, who requested anonymity, said Bagwell stays mostly to himself, although they said they wouldn`t mind if he left the neighborhood.

``He hasn`t done anything that I know of to hurt anybody,`` said one. ``But I don`t like my kids over there. He makes me a little uncomfortable.``

City building officials said the home`s ceiling, doors, windows, electrical system and plumbing are in various states of disrepair.

Last May, the city`s Unsafe Structures Board condemned the property, but Bagwell refused to let contractors hired by the city demolish the home.

``They were trespassing,`` Bagwell said.

As a result, city officials filed suit to have him evicted.

This is only the second time the city has filed such a suit. The last one, in the fall of 1984, resulted in the city tearing down a business on Pembroke Road.

Bagwell said he won`t leave unless ordered to by a judge. He said he will fight Lampert and the city in court. No date for the case has yet been set.

``If the judge is going to make a fair decision, how can he do it in a courtroom?`` Bagwell said. ``I`d like for him to come out, see the beauty of the place and get to know us.``

Lampert, meanwhile, said he`s uncertain what he`ll do next.

``The building may need to be destroyed, according to the reports I`ve been given,`` Lampert said. ``I just want him out. I never gave him permission to live in that house.``